Everyday, you go to work, whether it's at home or a long commute. You take care of your business. You take care of your family, from your parents, siblings, children and/or grandchildren. Everyone seems to get your attention, except you...
Your body aches, from hours of working, tension from stress, and you can't think of the last time you had a peaceful night of rest. Your mind is constantly filled with a list of tasks, none of which include a moment for you. You're tired, but someone else has asked you to assist with a project, and/or you need to meal prep for the week for your family. You only go to the doctor, when you're making an appointment for someone else, once you've finished being both nurse and doctor to your loved ones.
STOP!!! You can't go on like this!
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It's time to take care of yourself too. Why? Well, let's see:
- Decrease stress, which will also lead to,
- A healthier life/lifestyle (physical and mental)
- A sense of life fulfillment, including
- More satisfaction in your life
- YOU DESERVE IT!
You are just as worthy of peace, happiness and fulfillment as anyone else. A wonderful article in Forbes reminds us of how important it is to know your worth, and to remember that running ourselves down is counterproductive to work productivity and quality of work.
I'm sure it probably seems like everyone is always harping on and on about self-care around you, and you don't listen. You're too busy trying to build a life for your family or help someone else build their business, while your ideas stay locked away.
Well, make yesterday the last day of self neglect and today the first day of saying "Yes" to you! Change your mindset from seeing it as selfish, to seeing how it is also beneficial to the ones around you. Taking care of yourself effects every aspect of your life: mind, soul, body and spirit.
Stop struggling with saying "No" to others, and start consciously saying "Yes" to what's best for you. As a mother, daughter, big sister and mentor, I know exactly what it feels like to be pulled in every direction. I also know what's it's like to struggle with feeling like taking time for myself is unnecessary, when it seems like others need me. However, there comes a time when you have to realize that there will always be someone or something that could use your attention, but if you don't take/make the time to pay attention to yourself, then you can find yourself crashing in more than one capacity (mental, physical, and/or emotional).
As always, I am your passionately-driven ChristalNicole, leaving you with the hopes of enlightenment and strength. For any questions or discussions, I am just a click away...
Oh what a amazing blog. I love the encouragement and the beautiful truth of taking care of you first. ��
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Yes, self-care is of the highest importance. The way we take care of ourselves is related to every aspect of our lives...
Deleteawesome portrayal depicting the gravity of an individuals life dedicated to always helping, serving & just being there for others, attending to their needs at the risk of not even attending to your own.
ReplyDeleteKeep Writing!!! Great Practicle Insight At Becoming A Better You/Us! 👍🏾❤🎯
True. There are some of us that are called to serve people in a greater capacity than others. While it is important to serve, we can't forget about ourselves. Self neglect leads to a diminished capacity to actually be fruitful in endeavors to serve...
Delete💗 love it. true
ReplyDeleteThank you so much 🙏🏼
DeleteSo first... thank you for sharing the link to your article & I would say sorry that I’m just now reading it but in reality it’s perfect timing! I was winning to my sister Vanessa just yesterday about being back in a financial situation that I haven’t been in a long time and her response was sooo super simple that I both hated it & loved it... it was a reminder to commit to say NO more & start over who cares how long it takes... ��. So your title caught my attention because it begins with saying NO ... AND... you also called it a struggle!!! I often get myself in trouble by believing the lie that because I spend so much time doing the things I “HAVE” to do... that whatever spare or leisure time I have, i should offer it to others, as if taking that time for myself ALSO would be way selfish and would inevitably lead to loneliness which can feel much worse than being tired or stressed!!! I’ll take this opportunity to be even more honest and say that even the times I make plans for myself, I end up just sleeping or just sitting for hours at a time being totally unproductive flipping through my phone. So I learned that I don’t even hold myself at a value high enough to take time & energy or muster the motivation to want to take care of me or DO ME! The funny thing is that I KNOW that without taking time for ME then can’t really be ME for anyone else. Want to know the double whammy??!! The more I get to know myself in my identity in Christ, the more “alien” I begin to feel, the more set apart. So, the combination of all of this, after a period of time would begin to weigh on me because it can all seem so contradicting!!! Well, I’d like to testify to at least this much to be true in my life... in starting to put my time, energy & resources in the hands of God with council ya intentions to surrender them all at His feet every day, seems to keep a better balance for me for sure!!!! However, the struggle there is saying YES more! This change in paradigm then presents an obvious UNKNOWN trajectory for my life which can be unnerving but sure to cause me to test & stretch my faith! Now... all I have to do is actually walk in it right??!.. which brings me back to your points on the reasons WHY it’s important to prioritize ME time... and to me I’ve found that seeing my value in WHO God created me to be... becomes more valuable to me.... still on the inside of me I can’t help but want to ask if that’s ok?! ��♀️
ReplyDelete